Today Members from the Senedd’s Finance Committee and the Scottish Parliament’s Finance and Public Administration Committee held the inaugural meeting of the Interparliamentary Finance Committee Forum.
Hosted at Holyrood, a key purpose of the Forum is to provide a mechanism for dialogue and co-operation between parliamentarians in Scotland and Wales on issues of common interest and concern regarding devolved public finances. It will also provide an opportunity for a collective voice for Scottish and Welsh Finance Committee interest in scrutinising UK Government spending in devolved areas and provide opportunities for Members across both legislatures to work together to share experiences, with the aim of improving budgetary and fiscal scrutiny and transparency.
Members from the Northern Ireland Assembly Finance Committee will also be invited to join the Forum at a future date, once that Committee is established. Other Parliamentary Committees may be invited to attend any meetings where appropriate.
At its first meeting the Forum considered the budget scrutiny approaches in each legislature, respective work programmes and future challenges facing public finances.
Hosting the event, the Convener of the Scottish Parliament’s Finance and Public Administration Committee, Kenneth Gibson MSP, said:
With the UK Government and devolved governments now spending in devolved areas, it is vital that the Finance Committees in the devolved nations are able to jointly consider the impact of this complexity on Parliamentary scrutiny and transparency. The IFCF will provide an important role in sharing insights in effectively tackling that complexity as well as learning on forecasting, fiscal frameworks, and financial levers afforded to the devolved governments.
In welcoming the Forum’s establishment, the Chair of the Senedd’s Finance Committee, Peredur Owen Griffiths MS, stated that:
“As devolved legislatures we often face similar challenges and that’s why I’m keen to work as much as possible with colleagues in Scotland to share experiences and best practice and to hold the UK Government to account where its actions relate to Wales and devolved areas.”
The next meeting of the Forum will take place at the Senedd Cymru/ Welsh Parliament late 2022/early 2023.
Members in attendance
Scottish Parliament:
· Kenneth Gibson, Convener of the Finance and Public Administration Committee (FPAC)
· Daniel Johnson, Deputy Convener, FPAC
· Liz Smith, FPAC member
· Michelle Thomson, FPAC member
· John Mason, FPAC member
· Douglas Lumsden, FPAC member
Senedd Cymru/Welsh Parliament
· Peredur Owen Griffiths, Chair of the Finance Committee
· Peter Fox, Finance Committee member
An official from the Northern Ireland Assembly was in attendance as an observer.